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Meditation Park
| runtime = 94 minutes | country = Canada | language = English | budget = }} Meditation Park is a 2017 Canadian drama film directed by Mina Shum. The film opened the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival and was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival . Following in the footsteps of her previous work like Double Happiness (film), Meditation Park highlights director Shum's Chinese ancestryMelnyk, G. (2014). Film and the city: The urban imaginary in Canadian cinema. Edmonton: AU Press.. Notably, the film highlights stars Sandra Oh and Don McKellar. Moving well beyond the heterosexual-norms, Shum's Meditation Park reveals important difficulties around immigration and minorities. It debuted to positive reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival and opened in selected theatres on 9 March 2018 . Plot Opened by Mandarin theme song, Meditation Park takes place in home of Cheng Pei Pei as Maria, a 60 year old grandmother. In the opening scene, Maria's family is gathered at the dinning room table for a celebratory dinner. Here, watchers learn that Maria and her husband, Bing, immigrated from Hong Kong to Vancouver 39 years ago in order to create a better life for their children. However, Maria seeks to rebuild her independence when she discovers an orange thong in her husband's pants pocket . The story commences after Maria decides to follow her husband in a cab around the city, inspired by a crime stopping television series she saw earlier that week. After raising enough money to pay the meter, Maria begins her pursuit. Once her husband's infidelity is confirmed, Maria keeps this new information secret, creates a resume and attempts to find a job. While handing out resumes, Maria is offered temporary work as a receptionist by a family friend, where she quickly realizes her professional skills are outdated. Instead, she befriends three local Cantonese women: May, Anita and Su. She joins the elderly women in selling illegal backyard parking where she formally meets Gabriel, another friendly neighbor. As strong bonds are made between these new friends, they rely on one another for emotional support during difficult times. With additional help and support from daughter Ava, Maria is further encouraged to find her independence. Maria tackles on bike riding and outruns a bi-law officer during backyard parking mishap. Meanwhile her husband plans a trip to Tokyo with new girlfriend. Driven by her curiosity, Maria decides to follow husbands mistress to a local park where she was seen sitting on a bench. As Maria pretends to search for garbage, she observes the other women. Once Maria returns home thinking she has gone unseen, a young lady presents herself on her doorstep with important information regarding her son, Charlie Shum, M., Hegyes, S., & Massey, R. (Producers), & Shum, M. (Director). (2017). Meditation Park Picture. Canada: Mongrel Media. The woman is later revealed to be Charlie's fiancee, Dylan, who has brought Maria flowers. Maria reveals that she wishes to come to her son's wedding, but cannot, due to Bing disowning Charlie, and forbidding her from having contact with him. Maria decides to return multiple times to the park bench, in order to scrutinize Bing's girlfriend. However, she is soon aggressively confronted by the mistress, who recognizes her. Later, Maria returns home, only to find her husband depressed and melancholy, seemingly because his relationship with his girlfriend had ended. He soon loses motivation, choosing to stay home all day and smoke. Maria tries many tactics, in order to help her husband, even begging his girlfriend to "take him back". Instead, she refuses and apologizes to Maria. Maria pushes Bing to go an expo, where they are approached by Gabriel, looking for petition signatures in order to throw a block party. Bing takes an instant disliking to Gabriel, banning Maria from making contact with himReview: Meditation Park Is a Complex Portrait Of the Lives Of Immigrants. Through a series of montages, the audience learns that Gabriel's wife is suffering from an unknown ailment, which she eventually succumbs toMeditation Park https://www.calgaryfilm.com/films/2017/meditation-park. Maria gives Gabriel an embrace, for comfort, but is soon interrupted by Bing, who is enraged. During a tense family dinner, Maria and Ava confront Bing about Charlie's wedding; Bing soon becomes violent, leading to Maria's dismay, and Ava's exasperation. As the film comes to a close, we see Maria pack a suitcase, and demand to go to the wedding. Bing profusely apologizes to Maria for the affair, but Maria insists for her to be treated equally to him. On the way to the venue, she passes May, Anita, Su, and Gabriel, rekindling her friendships with the 4. During the closing shots of the movie, Maria can be seen walking down a terminal, getting on a ferry, and turning her face up to the bright sky, signaling that she is finally free. Cast * Cheng Pei-pei as Maria * Sandra Oh as Ava * Liane Balaban as Dylan * Tzi Ma as Bing * Zak Santiago as Jonathan * Don McKellar as Gabriel * Nelson Wong as Peter * Alannah Ong as May * Lilliam Lim as Anita * Sharmaine Yeoh as Su Funding In addition to receiving funding from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Telefilm Canada, Meditation Park is also supported by the Harold Greenberg Fund. It is also noted in the credits of the film, that the production would not have been possible without support and membership of the Union of B.C Performers. Release Critical response * On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 8 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10. * The Globe and Mail rated the film 3.5/4 stars. * Meditation Park was also reviewed by The Gateway (student magazine) who criticized the comedic efforts of the film but said it was emotionally satisfying and introduced interesting perspectives of Chinese women in Traditional Chinese families. References External links * Category:2017 films Category:2010s drama films Category:Canadian films Category:Canadian drama films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Mina Shum Category:Films set in Vancouver Category:Films shot in Vancouver Category:Film scores by Andrew Lockington